Lying-in
Subtitle: a history of childbirth in America
By: Richard W. Wertz and Dorothy C. Wertz.
Contributors: Wertz, Dorothy C.
Edition: Expanded ed.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1989
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 322
Subjects: Obstetrics -- United States -- History; Childbirth -- United States -- History; Obstetrics -- Social aspects -- United States -- History; Maternal health services -- United States -- History
Description: This lively history of childbirth begins with colonial days, when childbirth was a social event, and moves on to the gradual medicalization of childbirth in America as doctors forced midwives out of business and to the home birth movement of the 1980s. Widely praised when it was first published in 1977, the book has now been expanded to bring the story up to date. In a new chapter and epilogue, Richard and Dorothy Wertz discuss the recent focus on delivering perfect babies, with its emphasis on technology, prenatal testing, and Caesarean sections. They argue that there are many viable alternatives--including out of hospital births--in the search for the best birthing system.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 304-314).